Belden GRASS VALLEY MDX-3901 Instruction Manual

MDX-3901 | 1
MDX-3901
12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD 16 Audio Channel AES/MADI
Embedder/De-Embedder
Guide to Installation and Operation
13-03078-010-AA
2019-10-07

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2| MDX-3901
Copyright and Trademark Notice
Copyright © 2010-2019, Grass Valley Canada. All rights reserved.
Belden, Belden Sending All The Right Signals, and the Belden logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Belden
Inc. or its affiliated companies in the United States and other jurisdictions. Grass Valley, Miranda, MDX-3901, iControl,
and Densité are trademarks or registered trademarks of Grass Valley Canada. Belden Inc., Grass Valley USA, LLC, and
other parties may also have trademark rights in other terms used herein.
Product Patents
This product may be protected by one or more patents. For further information, please visit:
www.grassvalley.com/patents/
Terms and Conditions
Please read the following terms and conditions carefully. By using MDX-3901 documentation, you agree to the following
terms and conditions.
Grass Valley hereby grants permission and license to owners of MDX-3901 to use their product manuals for their own
internal business use. Manuals for Grass Valley products may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose unless specifically authorized in
writing by Grass Valley.
A Grass Valley manual may have been revised to reflect changes made to the product during its manufacturing life.
Thus, different versions of a manual may exist for any given product. Care should be taken to ensure that one obtains
the proper manual version for a specific product serial number.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of
Grass Valley.
Warranty information is available in the Support section of the Grass Valley Web site (www.grassvalley.com).

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MDX-3901 | 3
Electromagnetic Compatibility
This equipment has been tested for verification of compliance with FCC Part 15, Subpart B requirements for
Class A digital devices.
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to
part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference
when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio
frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful
interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful
interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the requirements of the EMC directive 2004/108/CE:
EN 55022 Class A radiated and conducted emissions
EN 55024 Immunity of Information Technology Equipment
EN 61000-3-2 Harmonic current injection
EN 61000-3-3 Limitation of voltage changes, voltage fluctuations and flicker
EN 61000-4-2 Electrostatic discharge immunity
EN 61000-4-3 Radiated electromagnetic field immunity –radio frequencies
EN 61000-4-4 Electrical fast transient immunity
EN 61000-4-5 Surge immunity
EN 61000-4-11 Voltage dips, short interruptions and voltage variations immunity

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Table of Contents
1MDX-3901 12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD 16 Audio Channel AES/MADI Embedder/De-embedder 6
1.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................6
1.2 Features...............................................................................................................................................7
1.3 Functional Block Diagram....................................................................................................................7
1.4 Front Card-edge Interface...................................................................................................................8
2Installation.................................................................................................................................. 9
2.1 Installation of Rear Connector Panels.................................................................................................9
2.2 Installation of the Optical Interface (option).......................................................................................10
2.3 Rear Panels and Connectors ............................................................................................................10
2.3.1 Images of Rear Panel Connectors.......................................................................................10
2.3.2 Summary of rear panel connections.....................................................................................11
2.3.3 Details of rear panel connections.........................................................................................11
3User Interface........................................................................................................................... 14
3.1 Control options ..................................................................................................................................14
3.2 Card-Edge Status LED......................................................................................................................14
4Local control using the Densité frame control panel........................................................... 15
5Remote control using iControl............................................................................................... 16
5.1 The iControl graphic interface window..............................................................................................16
5.2 Video Input/Output panel...................................................................................................................19
5.2.1 Input/Output Config tab........................................................................................................19
5.2.2 Deglitcher tab .......................................................................................................................19
5.3 Reference panel................................................................................................................................21
5.4 Metadata panel..................................................................................................................................22
5.4.1 TC tab in embedder mode....................................................................................................22
5.4.2 TC tab in de-embedder mode ..............................................................................................22
5.5 Audio Processing panel.....................................................................................................................23
5.5.1 Status tab in embedder mode..............................................................................................23
5.5.2 Status tab in de-embedder mode.........................................................................................23
5.5.3 SRC tab................................................................................................................................24
5.5.4 Selector tab ..........................................................................................................................24
5.5.5 Phase/Delay tab...................................................................................................................25
5.5.6 Shuffler/Mixer tab .................................................................................................................26
5.5.7 Config tab.............................................................................................................................27
5.6 Audio Alarms panel ...........................................................................................................................27
5.6.1 Overload tab.........................................................................................................................27
5.6.2 Silence tab............................................................................................................................28
5.6.3 Phase tab .............................................................................................................................28
5.7 Monitoring panel................................................................................................................................29
5.7.1 RALM tab..............................................................................................................................29
5.8 Test panel..........................................................................................................................................30
5.9 Factory/Presets panel........................................................................................................................31

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5.9.1 Factory/Presets tab..............................................................................................................31
5.10 Alarm Config panel............................................................................................................................34
5.11 Info panel...........................................................................................................................................37
6Specifications .......................................................................................................................... 39
7Contact Us................................................................................................................................ 41
Grass Valley Technical Support................................................................................................................. 41
Corporate Head Office ...............................................................................................................................41
ANNEX 1 –MDX-3901 Local User Interface................................................................................. 42
ANNEX 2 –Installing the Optical Interface.................................................................................. 43

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1 MDX-3901 12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD 16 Audio Channel AES/MADI
Embedder/De-embedder
1.1 Introduction
The MDX-3901 is an advanced, high-quality audio processor, which can embed up to 16 audio channels from a
combination of eight discrete AES and/or one MADI signal into a 12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD SDI signal or de-embed up
to 16 audio channels into eight AES and one MADI signal from a 12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD SDI signal.
When configured as an embedder, each AES input can accept different sample rates, or even asynchronous audio, and
will be resampled at 48 kHz by a sample rate converter, which can be manually or automatically disabled in the
presence of non-PCM audio. The MADI input supports a 64-channel payload at the industry standard 48 kHz sampling
rate synchronized to the SDI signal. The MDX-3901 embedder can simultaneously process up to 16 channels of audio
selected from 80 channels inputs - 16 from AES and 64 from MADI. Functions include channel shuffling, mixing and
probing. Each channel can be delayed independently to correct any lip sync issues. All 16 audio channels can be mixed
and shuffled to provide 16 channels for embedding in the SDI video output. A single-link video input will be distributed to
outputs 1 & 2. When genlocked to the external reference input or through the frame reference using the internal URS
signal, the MDX-3901 can handle video hot switches at the input without losing sync at the output. In the absence of a
video input, the card can still output synchronous video and embed the discrete AES/MADI audio. The MDX-3901 can
also embed linear timecode (LTC) as ancillary timecode (ATC) in 12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD.
When configured as a de-embedder, the MDX-3901 can simultaneously process up to 16 channels of audio from the
embedded SDI input. Functions include channel shuffling, mixing and probing. Each channel can be delayed
independently to correct any lip sync issues. All audio channels can be mixed and shuffled to provide 16 channels on the
discrete AES outputs and on the first 16 channels of the MADI output. A single link video input will be distributed to
outputs 1 & 2. When genlocked to the external reference input or through the frame reference using the internal URS
signal, the MDX-3901 can handle video hot switches at the input without losing sync at the output. The MDX-3901 can
de-embed ancillary timecode (ATC) in 12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD and provides a linear timecode output (LTC).
A fiber input and/or output cartridge is offered as an option on some rear modules. Once an appropriate fiber cartridge is
installed, the input or outputs are selectable through the iControl interface. The input of the card allows you to select
between fiber and copper inputs. The outputs are via copper and fiber simultaneously (when equipped with a fiber
cartridge).

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1.2 Features
Video
12G/Quad Link 3G/3G/HD input
Supports 3Gb/s level A (mapping 1) and level B
Audio/Video deglitcher to handle video hot switch at the input
Automatic detection of input video loss and switchover to local black or color bar for continuous audio/video output
synchronization (embedder mode only)
Flexible HD/SD reference using the internal URS frame reference or the external reference input
Minimum processing delay of 1.1 line
Optional 12G and 3G SFP (R, T, RT and TT models available)
Audio
8 AES inputs (embedder) or outputs (de-embedder)
Sample rate conversion for asynchronous AES inputs (embedder)
1 MADI input (embedder) or output (de-embedder)
Full audio shuffling and mixing on a per channel basis
16 audio channels internal audio processing
Audio channel delay adjustment of up to 2.7 s to compensate for lip-sync issues
Metadata
Linear time code (LTC) input (embedder) or output (de-embedder)
1.3 Functional Block Diagram
Figure 1.1 MDX-3901 Embedder / De-embedder Functional Block Diagram

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1.4 Front Card-edge Interface
The front card-edge of the MDX-3901 incorporates
two elements:
Status LED (see section 3.2)
Select Button (see section 0)
Figure 1.2 Front card-edge layout
Select
Status
SELECT button
MDX-3901
Status LED

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2 Installation
2.1 Installation of Rear Connector Panels
Grass Valley Densité series cards are each associated with a rear connector panel, which must be installed in the
Densité frame before the card can be inserted.
The MDX-3901 card is designed to fit into Grass Valley’s Densité-3 or Densité-3+ frame. Four different rear connector
panels are available, the -3+SRP rear panel series fit only in a 3+ frame while the -3DRP rear panel series fit in 3 or 3+
frames:
MDX-3901-7-3+SRP-Q Single-slot-width panel with 75audio
MDX-3901-1-3+SRP-Q Single-slot-width panel with 110audio
MDX-3901-7-3DP-Q-F Double-slot-width panel with 75audio and fiber I/O cage
MDX-3901-1-3DP-Q-F Double-slot-width panel with 110audio and fiber I/O cage
See section 2.3 for details of the signal connections available on each of these panel types.
All cards and rear panels can be installed with the frame power on. The card has connectors which plug into a mid-frame
mother board for distribution of power and for connection to the controller card, and a second connector which plugs
directly into the rear connector panel for input and output.
The rear connector panel must be installed with the card out of the frame.
To remove an existing card from the slot, tilt up the swivel handle on the front of the card to lever the connectors
apart, then use the handle to pull the card straight out of the slot.
Figure 2.1 Densité-3 frame –rear panel installation
Step 1: To install the connector panel:
1. If a card is installed in the slot whose rear panel is being changed, remove it as described above.
2. Remove the existing panel (either blank or belonging to an existing card that is being changed) by releasing the
captive screw(s) at the bottom.
3. Position the new panel and secure it in place with the captive screw(s) at the bottom.

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Step 2: To install the MDX-3901 Card:
Once a matching rear connector panel has been installed, install the MDX-3901 card as follows:
1. Open the front panel of the frame.
2. Slide the MDX-3901 card into the slot and push gently on the handle to seat the connectors.
When using a double-slot-width rear panel, the card should be inserted into the right-most of the two slots.
Inserting the card into the wrong slot will not damage the card, and will be flagged by the on-card status LED
flashing red to indicate that there is no connection to the rear panel.
3. Close the front panel of the frame.
2.2 Installation of the Optical Interface (option)
Refer to ANNEX 2 –Installing the Optical Interface.
2.3 Rear Panels and Connectors
2.3.1 Images of Rear Panel Connectors
The four available rear panels are shown in the figure below, and their various inputs and outputs are described.
Figure 2.2 MDX-3901 Rear Panels (left to right): MDX-3901-7-3+SRP-Q, MDX-3901-1-3+SRP-Q,
MDX-3901-7-3DP-Q-F, and MDX-3901-1-3DP-Q-F

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2.3.2 Summary of rear panel connections
MDX-3901-7-3+SRP-Q
MDX-3901-1-3+SRP-Q
MDX-3901-7-3DP-Q-F
MDX-3901-1-3DP-Q-F
Single-slot-width panel with HD-BNC


Double-slot-width panel with BNC


CONNECTORS




12G/3G/HD IN
1
1
1
1
3G IN
3
3
3
3
12G/3G/HD OUT
2
2
2
2
3G OUT
2
2
2
2
AES3 I/O (110) on HD-SUB26
8
8
AES3-id I/O (75) on HD-SUB26
8
8
MADI I/O




LTC I/O




Fiber cage I/O


2.3.3 Details of rear panel connections
12G/3G/HD SDI IN1 –Serial digital video input (1)
Connect a serial digital video signal to the BNC or HD-BNC labeled 12G/3G/HD SDI IN1 conforming to the:
SMPTE 2082-10 standard for a 12 G input signal.
SMPTE 425-1 standard for a 3G input signal.
SMPTE 292-1 standard for an HD input signal.
SMPTE 425-5 standard for link #1 of a quad link 3G signal
3G SDI IN2, IN3, IN4 –Serial digital video inputs (3)
Connect a serial digital video signal to the BNCs or HD-BNCs labeled 3G SDI IN2, IN3 & IN4 conforming to the:
SMPTE 425-5 standard for link #2, #3 & #4 of a quad link 3G signal.
12G/3G/HD SDI OUT1, OUT2 –Serial digital video outputs (2)
The MDX-3901 provides two 12G/3G/HD SDI video outputs on BNC or HD-BNC connectors, labeled 12G/3G/HD OUT1
and OUT2. The SDI video signal conforms to the standard of the selected input. The same signal is carried on both
outputs, unless the input is an SMPTE 425-5 quad link signal, in which case OUT1 is for Link #1 and OUT2 is for Link #2
of a quad link 3G signal.
3G SDI OUT3, OUT4 –Serial digital video outputs (2)
These 3G signal outputs conform to SMPTE 425-5 standard and are only for links #3 and #4 of a quad link 3G signal.

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AES IN / OUT –Discrete digital audio inputs (Embedder) or outputs (De-Embedder) (8): see table below.
MADI audio input (Embedder) or output (De-Embedder) (1): see table below.
LTC linear time code input (Embedder) or output (De-Embedder) (1): see table below.
Rear connector panels are available for AES3 (110 ) or AES3-id (75 ) signals.
Rear Panel Type
Signal
Connector(s) / Impedance
Optional adapters
MDX-3901-1-3DP-Q-F
AES IN / OUT
HD-SUB 26 (1) 110 
NSH26M: HD-Sub 26 to Terminal
Block Adapter
MDX-3901-1-3+SRP-Q
AES IN / OUT
HD-SUB 26 (1) 110 
NSH26M: HD-Sub 26 to Terminal
Block Adapter
MDX-3901-7-3DP-Q-F
AES IN / OUT
HD-SUB 26 (1) 75 
BOC-DA26-8BNC-1: 75Ω digital
audio breakout cable
MDX-3901-7-3+SRP-Q
AES IN / OUT
HD-SUB 26 (1) 75 
BOC-DA26-8BNC-1 75Ω digital audio
breakout cable
AES IN/OUT - Pinout of HD-SUB26
connector for 110 ohm rear panels:
MDX-3901-1-3+SRP-Q
MDX-3901-1-3DP-Q-F
Pin #
AES 1 (Hi)
1
AES 1 (Lo)
10
AES 2 (Hi)
2
AES 2 (Lo)
11
AES 3 (Hi)
3
AES 3 (Lo)
12
AES 4 (Hi)
4
AES 4 (Lo)
13
AES 5 (Hi)
5
AES 5 (Lo)
14
AES 6 (Hi)
6
AES 6 (Lo)
15
AES 7 (Hi)
7
AES 7 (Lo)
16
AES 8 (Hi)
8
AES 8 (Lo)
17
GND
9, 18-26
AES IN/OUT - Pinout of HD-SUB26
connector for 75 ohm rear panels:
MDX-3901-7-3+SRP-Q
MDX-3901-7-3DP-Q-F
Pin #
AES 1 (Hi)
1
AES 1 (Gnd)
10
AES 2 (Hi)
2
AES 2 (Gnd)
11
AES 3 (Hi)
3
AES 3 (Gnd)
12
AES 4 (Hi)
4
AES 4 (Gnd)
13
AES 5 (Hi)
5
AES 5 (Gnd)
14
AES 6 (Hi)
6
AES 6 (Gnd)
15
AES 7 (Hi)
7
AES 7 (Gnd)
16
AES 8 (Hi)
8
AES 8 (Gnd)
17
GND
9, 18-26

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Fiber I/O Cage –Fiber-optic input and outputs
Rear panels whose part number ends in –F incorporate a fiber optic interface. The interface consists of two parts:
A socket on the rear panel into which an optional SFP interface module is plugged.
An optional SFP (Small Form-factor Pluggable) module into which the optical fibers are plugged, and which
incorporates the optical/electrical interface.
The optical fibers must be terminated in an LC connector.
See ANNEX 2 –Installing the Optical Interface for instructions on installing and removing the SFP interface module, and
for plugging and unplugging the LC-terminated fibers.
The SFP modules supported by the MDX-3901 are:
SFP Modules
Description
SFP-U-R-LC
12G Single Rx Fiber with LC/PC connector
SFP-U-RT-S13-LC
12G Dual Rx/Tx Fiber 1310 nm with LC/PC connector
SFP-U-T-S13-LC
12G Single Tx Fiber 1310 nm with LC/PC connector
SFP-U-TT-S13S13-LC
12G Dual Tx Fiber 1310 nm with LC/PC connector
SFP-R-LC
3G Single Rx Fiber with LC/PC connector
SFP-RT-S13-LC
3G Dual Rx/Tx Fiber 1310 nm with LC/PC connector
SFP-T-S13-LC
3G Single Tx Fiber at 1310 nm with LC/PC connector
SFP-TT-S13S13-LC
3G Dual Tx Fiber at 1310 nm with LC/PC connector

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3 User Interface
3.1 Control options
The MDX-3901 can be controlled in three different ways:
The local control panel and its push-buttons can be used to move through a menu of parameters and to adjust
parameter values (see section 4).
Grass Valley’s iControl system can be used to access the card’s operating parameters from a remote computer,
using a convenient graphical user interface (GUI) (see section 5).
Grass Valley’s RCP-200 panel (check for availability).
3.2 Card-Edge Status LED
The status monitor LED is located on the front card-edge of the MDX-3901, and is visible through the front access door
of the DENSITÉ frame. This multi-color LED indicates the status of the MDX-3901 by color, and by flashing/steady
illumination.
The various error conditions are specified in the Alarm Configuration panel accessible through iControl. See Section
5.10 for details.
This chart shows the error which can be flagged on the front panel led of a MDX-3901 without the use of iControl.
If a cell is gray, the error condition cannot cause the LED to assume that status
The factory default status is shown by a 
The LED will always show the most
severe detected error status that it is
configured to display, and in the chart
error severity increases from left to
right, with green representing no
error/disabled, and flashing red the
most severe error.
Error Condition
LED Status
Green
Yellow
Red
Flashing
Red
Cooling Fan error

FPGA error

Dataflash Error

No Rear

Input Video error

Quad Link Align

Audio Mute error

Test Mode

If the LED is Flashing Yellow, it means that either the card is selected for local control using the Densité frame’s
control panel, or the firmware of the card is being updated. See Section 4 for details.

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MDX-3901 | 15
4 Local control using the Densité frame control panel
Push the SELECT button on the MDX-3901 card edge (see Section 1.4) to assign the local control panel to operate the
MDX-3901.
The STATUS LED on the MDX-3901 card edge flashes yellow.
Use the control panel buttons to navigate through the menu, as described below.
The complete menu structure is shown in ANNEX 1 to this document.
Two versions of the local control panel exist:
Panel type
Frame models
Appearance
Physical
Densité-3, Densité-3+FR1,
Touch screen
Densité 3+FR4, GV Node
The local control panel is fastened to the front of the controller card.
The physical panel is accessed by opening the front door of the frame.
The touch screen panel is accessed through an aperture in the frame door.
The panel incorporates a display capable of displaying two lines of text, each 16 characters in length, and four
pushbuttons. The functionality of the pushbuttons is as follows:
[+] [–] Used for menu navigation and value modification
[SELECT] Gives access to the next menu level. When a parameter value is shown, pushing this button once enables
modification of the value using the [+] and [–] buttons; a second push confirms the new value
[ESC] Cancels the effect of parameter value changes that have not been confirmed; pushing [ESC] causes the
parameter to revert to its former value.
Pushing [ESC] moves the user back up to the previous menu level. At the main menu, [ESC] does not exit
the menu system. To exit, re-push the [SELECT] button for the card being controlled.
Notes:
1. If you do not touch any buttons on the local control panel, the controller will revert to its normal
standby mode after 30 seconds.
2. If you changed a parameter from the control menu, but have not applied your change (you did not
touch the SEL button on the control panel), once the 30-second timeout has occurred, the
parameters will be confirmed as if you had touched the SEL button
MDX-3901

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16 | MDX-3901
5 Remote control using iControl
The operation of the MDX-3901 may be controlled using Grass Valley’s iControl system.
This manual describes the control panels associated with the MDX-3901 and their use.
Please consult the iControl User’s Guide for information about setting up and operating iControl.
In iControl Navigator or iControl Websites, double-click on the MDX-3901 icon to open the control panel.
5.1 The iControl graphic interface window
The basic window structure for the MDX-3901 is shown in figure 5.1. The window identification line gives the card type
(MDX-3901) and the slot number where the card is installed in its Densité frame.
There are four main sections in the window itself, identified in figure 5.1:
4
Figure 5.1 MDX-3901 iControl graphic interface window
1
2
3

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Section 1. The top section displays six icons on the left. These icons report different statuses such as card
communication status, input signal and reference signal format and statuses. In some instances, they relate to
conditions defined through parameters settings.
Icon # 1 2 3 4 5 6
Move the mouse over an icon and a status message appears below the icon providing additional information.
If there is an error, the error status message appears in the message area without mouse-over.
If there are multiple errors, the error messages cycle so all can be seen
The icon whose status or error message is shown is highlighted with a mauve background
The table below describes the various status icons that can appear, and how they are to be interpreted.
In cases where there is more than one possible interpretation, read the error message in the iControl window to
see which applies.
Table –iControl Status Icon interpretation
Icon #1 –Manual Card Configuration
(green)
Remote card control activated. The iControl interface can be used to operate the card
(yellow)
Local card control active, The card is being controlled using the Densité frame control
panel, as described in section 0. Any changes made using the iControl interface will have
no effect on the card.
Icon #2 –SDI Input status
(green)
Signal detected and valid.
Beneath the icon, the format will be indicated as 12G, Quad Link 3G, 3G or HD
and the specific format details will be listed if the cursor is moved over the icon.
(red)
Signal absent, No rear, Reference mismatch, Video/TRS error
Icon #3 –Operation Mode
(green)
Operation mode: process –normal processing of the input signal
(yellow)
Operation mode: TEST –color bar and audio test tones enabled (see Section 5.8)

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18 | MDX-3901
Icon #4 –Audio Status
(green)
Audio OK
(yellow)
Yellow alarm condition detected on 1 or more channels
(red)
Red alarm condition detected on 1 or more channels
Icon #5 –Reference
(green)
Reference OK. Mouse over to see the source of the reference, and its format, e.g.
External, NTSC
(red)
Reference missing. The reference is required only for correct deglitcher operation.
Icon #6 –Operation Mode
(green)
Hardware OK
(red)
Hardware Health Monitoring (Fan, Hardware fault detected)
If this icon appears red, return the card to Grass Valley and specify the error code.
Section 2. The left portion of the window contains all the parameter groups, which become highlighted when they are
selected; the main panel (4) then displays the group’s set of parameters. Each of the groups is described in detail below.
Section 3. The lower left corner of the window identifies the Preset currently in use or “Custom” if none is applicable.
Section 4. The main panel contains all the parameters specific to the group selected. It may contain several tabs to
help manage the different parameters.
Each of the panels associated with the groups accessed from the buttons in Section 2, and shownin Section 4, is described
individually in the following sections.

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5.2 Video Input/Output panel
This panel allows input selection and control of the deglitcher.
5.2.1 Input/Output Config tab
Input Select: use the pulldown list to select between the
copper input (BNC or HD-BNC), quad-link copper input
(BNC or HD-BNC), and the fiber optic input (if available).
Mode: sets the MDX-3901 operating mode: Embedder:
embeds up to sixteen (16) channels from the discrete AES
and/or the MADI inputs. De-embedder: de-embeds up to
sixteen (16) channels available on the 8 AES discrete AES
and the MADI output.
Fiber Output Config: This will only be active if an Optic Fiber
module with one or two outputs is installed in the rear panel.
Recovery (embedder mode only): sets the MDX-3901
behavior upon signal loss. Format sets the video signal
resolution (OFF disables this feature), and Signal sets a
color bar or black pattern.
Output Status shows the current video format and whether
the recovery signal is locked to reference.
5.2.2 Deglitcher tab
When the Deglitcher is active, the card supports hot-switching between two
signals without producing artifacts on the output.
In order to enable the deglitcher, the URS signal or the External
reference must be selected in the Reference panel (see section 5.3)
Deglitcher: select OFF or ON from the pulldown
For this mode to function correctly, the two signals switched before this
equipment must meet the following requirements:
They must be synchronized to the reference
They must be phased within one line of each other
They must be phased to within +/- ½ line of the HREF of the reference signal
The offset from the VREF can be variable, but a distance of greater than 10 lines could create an artifact in the active
video. If the two signals are more than 1 line apart, we will see a vertical jump at the moment of switching that is
proportional to the number of vertical lines of offset between the two signals.
When a reference is present and the deglitcher is active, the card reports the difference in timing between the input and
the reference when the transition occurs.
If the reference is missing when the deglitcher is activated, the card will indicate “Missing reference” in red, and
the reference status icon at the top of the iControl window will turn red and show the message “Reference
missing”.
Figure 5.2 Input/Output Configuration tab
Figure 5.3 Deglitcher tab

GUIDE TO INSTALLATION AND OPERATION
20 | MDX-3901
To perform a glitch-free switch between two
sources, they must be in the same clean switch
region. A clean switch region is contained within
± ½ line about an H=0 point in the reference
signal, as shown by the dotted lines in the
figure. There is a clean switch region centered
on every H interval. As you can see, vertical
alignment with the reference is not important for
the deglitcher to operate properly.
Referring to the figure on the right, you may
switch between signals A, B or C, without any
glitch, and also between signals DE and
signals FG. Any other transition, like AD,
will cause a vertical image shift for one frame.
To determine whether a clean hot switch is
possible, you need to determine whether the two
input signals lie in the same clean switch region.
There is only one way to measure the position of
the signals with respect to the reference:
Use the deglitcher tab in iControl (InputDeglitcher)
When the deglitcher mode is on, each of these sources will display the alignment offset between the reference signal
and the input signal. Knowing the offset for both input signals, you can determine if they are in the same clean switch
region. If so, any hot-switch between those two signals will be glitchless.
To determine the limits of a clean switch region, you must know the input’s line length in s. The first region is delimited
by +½ line and -½ line of the reference. For example, with a 3G 59.94 signal the line length is 14.83 s and so the first
region lies between -7.41s and 7.41s. Other regions can be found by adding or removing a multiple of line length to
the two boundaries.
Example: for a 3G 59.94 input signal, we have these clean switch regions:
-1 line and -7.41s to 0 line and -7.41s,
0 line and -7.41s to 0 line and 7.41s,
0 line and 7.41s to 1 line and 7.41s, etc.…
Ref signal
Signal A
Signal B
Signal C
Signal D
Signal E
Signal F
Signal G
H=½ line H=½ lineH = 0
Line = x H = 0 Line = x+1
clean switch region #2
H = 0
Line = x-1
clean switch region #3clean switch region #1
H=0
V=1
H=0
V=1
H=0
V=1
H=0
V=1
H=0
V=1
H=0
V=1
H=0
V=1